COVID in Solano County – only worse over the weekend, 1 more death, another record number of new cases


By Roger Straw, December 21, 2020

[Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today, around 8pm).  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVEALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.]  Here are today’s numbers…

Monday, December 21: 1,216 new cases over the weekend, 1 new death.  Since Feb: 16,224 cases, more than 725 hospitalized, 94 deaths.Compare previous report, Friday, Dec. 18:Summary

    • Solano County reported 1,216 (!!) new cases, by far and away a new weekend record.  As of today, Solano has seen an average increase of 299 (!) new cases per day over the last 14 days! (source: covid19.ca.gov Total of 16,224 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – 1 new death reported today, a person over 65 years, and a total of 94 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 23 more active cases today for a total of 2,187 active casesCOMPARE: average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 2,187!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – CAUTION ON SOLANO HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORTING: According to Solano Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas, the County “occasionally” updates Age Group hospitalizations retroactively, adding substantial numbers.  Thus, many hospitalizations are never reported as CURRENTLY hospitalized.  Today, Solano reported that the number of CURRENTLY hospitalized increased by 11, total of 119But the County added only 5 previously unreported hospitalizations today among the age groups, for a total of 727 persons hospitalized since the outbreak began.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats belowFor COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County reported only 15% available today, up from 9% Friday, and out of the RED DANGER ZONECOVID19-CA.GOV reported today that Solano hospitals had 12 available ICU beds as of yesterday, December 20.  (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
    • Testing – The County reports today that 3,901 residents were tested over the weekend, a total of 156,496 unduplicated residents have now been tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  35.0% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.
Positive Test Rate – HIGH THREAT LEVEL, 19.6%

Solano County reported our 2nd HIGHEST EVER 7-day average positive test rate today at 19.6%, down slightly from Friday’s record 20.1%, and still far and away over the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate has also been on an alarming rise lately, up from Friday’s 12.8% to 13.3% today(Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group – Surge in case numbers and hospitalizations!
  • Youth 17 and under – 124 (!!) new cases today, total of 1,808 cases, representing 11.2% of the 16,224 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group, total of 17 since the outbreak began.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age groupBut cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 14 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 694 (!!) new cases today, total of 9,403 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents nearly 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 1 new hospitalization among persons in this age group today.  A total of 232 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young group today, total of 6 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 261 (!!) new cases today, total of 3,256 cases.  This age group represents just over 20% of the 16,224 total cases.  The County reported 2 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 196 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 16 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 136 (!!) new cases today, total of 1,748, representing 10.8% of Solano’s 16,224 total cases.  The County reported 2 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 282 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  1 new death was reported in this age group today.  A total of 72 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 77% of Solano’s 94 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 29 (!) new cases today, total of 443 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 60 (!!) new cases today, total of 1099 cases.
  • Fairfield added 335 (!!) new cases today, total of 4,696 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 11 (!) new cases today, total of 133 cases.
  • Suisun City added 80 (!!) new cases today, total of 1,141 cases.
  • Vacaville added 422 (!!) new cases today, total of 3,732 cases.
  • Vallejo added 273 (!!) new cases today, total of 4,919 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas added 6 (!) new cases today, total of 61 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 18% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 16% of hospitalizations, and 21% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 19% of cases, 25% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 28% of cases, 29% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.
More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is full of much more information, too extensive to cover here on a daily basis.  The Benicia Independent will continue to summarize daily and highlight significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

Benicia man, Roy Charles Waller, sentenced to 897 years

NorCal Rapist sentenced to 897 years for kidnapping, sexually assaulting women

San Francisco Chronicle, by Dustin Gardiner, Dec. 18, 2020
Roy Charles Waller appears in Sacramento County Superior Court last month, when he was found guilty of being the NorCal Rapist, who attacked nine women in their homes between 1991 and 2006. Photo: Paul Kitagaki Jr. / Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO — Roy Charles Waller, the notorious NorCal Rapist, was sentenced to 897 years in state prison Friday for attacking, kidnapping and sexually assaulting nine women in Northern California over a 15-year period.

Waller, 60, sat motionless, staring at the table in front of him, for more than an hour as several victims described in court how he had tortured and raped them in their homes.

Nicole Earnest-Payte was raped in her Rohnert Park townhouse one night in the summer of 1991 after Waller came in through through an unlocked door. She said he threatened to kill her as he committed “sadistic and fiendish acts.”

“I thought about how many flies would be on my body, and in what condition it would be found, and how my parents would experience the worst torture any parent can,” Earnest-Payte said. “He is a monster by all modern definitions of the word.”

Chronicle policy is to not identify sexual assault victims, but Earnest-Payte said she wanted her name used to show other survivors that they should not be ashamed.

Waller, a Benicia resident, was arrested in 2018 in Berkeley, where he worked at UC Berkeley’s Environmental, Health and Safety office. He started there in 1992, the year after he began his string of assaults across six counties.

A jury convicted Waller of 46 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping in November, after less than a day of deliberation. The trial was held in Sacramento County because his last two rapes took place there.

Judge James Arguelles of Sacramento County Superior Court handed down the maximum sentence, noting the heinous nature of Waller’s attacks and the fact that he planned them in detail.

Waller could eventually be eligible for elder parole around age 85 under California law, but prosecutors said it is unlikely that he would ever be released because of the brutality of his attacks.

Victims who spoke in court described how Waller tied and blindfolded them and brandished a gun. In one attack on Halloween 1996, he wore a skeleton mask while he raped a woman in Martinez. Weeks later, he called the victim at work to apologize.

Victims said he repeatedly assaulted them while they were tied up for hours. They said he seemed to have methodically planned the attacks.

One victim, identified in court as Jane Doe K of Sacramento, said she was so afraid Waller would return to attack her again that she was unable to shower for 12 years unless her husband or a friend was on speaker phone or inside the house. She said her fear ended the day Waller was arrested.

“He has no remorse, even to this date,” she said. “Only a monster is capable of committing such heinous crimes over and over again.”

Waller attacked Jane Doe T of Vallejo on Feb. 13, 1992. She said she lost the will to live, spent weeks in a mental hospital and has been plagued by anxiety ever since. She yells at her children if they leave doors or windows unlocked.

“I had a lot of anxiety wondering who he was, and if he could be right in front of my eyes,” she said. “I wondered if he ever wondered how much pain and suffering he’s caused.”

Victims said Waller seemed to find many of his victims through classified advertisements seeking a roommate. He committed attacks in Sacramento, Yolo, Butte, Contra Costa, Solano and Sonoma counties.

Prosecutors said they were able to link the assaults using DNA evidence and digital genealogy records that indicated the rapist was a member of Waller’s family.

Waller, who testified that he was innocent, did not speak in court Friday. His attorney, Joseph Farina, said he would appeal.

“Unfortunately, the DNA was just too much and we couldn’t overcome that,” Farina said outside court. “He had his day in court — that’s what he’s constitutionally entitled to.”

Moments later, a group of Waller’s victims walked out of the courthouse together. Earnest-Payte said she felt an overwhelming sense of freedom knowing Waller would die in prison.

“I never have to think about him for one more second of my life, and that is the greatest relief I could ever, ever feel,” Earnest-Payte said. “I feel released.”

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Michael Cabanatuan contributed to this report.  Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Solano RED ALERT: hospital ICU beds nearly full, COVID-19 hitting new record numbers


By Roger Straw, December 18, 2020

Only 9% of our hospital ICU beds are available!
Nearly 300 new positive cases in Solano County in just one day; ACTIVE cases at 2,164; ICU beds at a Solano record low level of only 9% available; and our positivity test rate is just over 1 in every 5 tested, 20.7%.  The virus is spreading like wildfire here among all age groups.  Solano is under the Regional stay-at-home order

[Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today, around 8pm).  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVEALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.]  Here are today’s numbers…

Friday, December 18: 295 new cases overnight, no new deaths.  Since Feb: 15,008 cases, more than 720 hospitalized, 93 deaths.Compare previous report, Thursday, Dec. 17:Summary

    • Solano County reported 295 (!) new cases overnight.  As of today, Solano has seen an average increase of 250 (!) new cases per day over the last 14 days! (source: covid19.ca.gov Total of 15,008 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – no new deaths reported today, a total of 93 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 59 fewer active cases today (after adding 444 yesterday), for a total of 2,164 active casesCOMPARE: average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 2,164!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – CAUTION ON SOLANO HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORTING: According to Solano Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas, the County “occasionally” updates Age Group hospitalizations retroactively, adding substantial numbers.  Thus, many hospitalizations are never reported as CURRENTLY hospitalized.  Good example today:  Today, Solano reported that the number of CURRENTLY hospitalized increased by 1, total of 108But it would seem that Solano County performed another of its “occasional” updates today of those previously hospitalized among age groups.  The County added 80 previously unreported hospitalizations yesterday and 35 more today, for a new total of 722 persons hospitalized since the outbreak began.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats belowFor COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County reported our lowest ever percent of ICU Beds Available, at only 9% available today, showing for the first time in the RED DANGER ZONECOVID19-CA.GOV reported today that Solano hospitals had 14 available ICU beds as of yesterday, December 17.  (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
    • Testing – The County reports today that 1,029 residents were tested overnight, a total of 152,595 unduplicated residents have now been tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  34.1% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.
Positive Test Rate – HIGH THREAT LEVEL, 20.7%

Solano County reported our HIGHEST EVER 7-day average positive test rate today at 20.7%, up from yesterday’s record 20.1%, far and away over the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate has also been on an alarming rise lately, remaining steady today at 12.8%(Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group – Surge in case numbers and hospitalizations!
  • Youth 17 and under – 28 new cases today (adding a total of 234 this week!), total of 1,684 cases, representing 11.2% of the 15,008 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group, total of 17 since the outbreak began.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age groupBut cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 14 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 148 new cases today (adding a total of 1,248 this week!), total of 8,709 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents around 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 11 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 231 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young group today, total of 6 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 56 new cases today (adding a total of 504 this week!), total of 2,995 cases.  This age group represents 20% of the 15,008 total cases.  The County reported 1 new hospitalization among persons in this age group today.  A total of 194 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 16 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 63 new cases today (adding a total of 289 this week!), total of 1,612, representing 10.7% of Solano’s 15,008 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 280 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today.  A total of 71 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 76% of Solano’s 93 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 6 new cases today, total of 414 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 15 new cases today, total of 1039 cases.
  • Fairfield added 82 (!) new cases today, total of 4,361 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 122 cases.
  • Suisun City added 23 new cases today, total of 1,061 cases.
  • Vacaville added 103 (!) new cases today, total of 3,310 cases.
  • Vallejo added 63 new cases today, total of 4,646 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas added 3 new cases today, total of 55 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 16% of hospitalizations, and 22% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 21% of cases, 25% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 27% of cases, 29% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.
More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is full of much more information, too extensive to cover here on a daily basis.  The Benicia Independent will continue to summarize daily and highlight significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

A White House security official lost his lower leg and foot due to Trump’s irresponsible refusal of health guidelines

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

White House Official Recovers From Severe Covid-19, Friend Says

Bloomberg News – Politics, by Jennifer Jacobs, December 14, 2020

A White House official who fell ill with Covid-19 in September is recovering after three months in the hospital, though he lost his right foot and lower leg in his battle against the virus, according to a friend.

Crede Bailey, the director of the White House security office, was the most severely ill among dozens of Covid-19 cases known to be connected to the White House. Bailey’s family has asked the White House not to publicize his condition, and President Donald Trump has never publicly acknowledged his illness.

Bailey’s friends have raised more than $30,000 for his rehabilitation through a GoFundMe account. The White House declined to say whether Trump has contributed to the effort.

“Crede beat COVID-19 but it came at a significant cost: his big toe on his left foot as well as his right foot and lower leg had to be amputated,” Dawn McCrobie, who organized the GoFundMe effort for Bailey, wrote Dec. 7.

Bailey is now at a rehabilitation center and will be fitted for a prosthetic leg in the coming months, she wrote.

“His family has staggering medical bills from a hospital stay of 2+ months and still counting in the ICU and a long road ahead in rehab before he can go home,” McCrobie wrote Nov. 13, when she created the account. “When he does make it home there will be major changes necessary to deal with his new, and permanent, disability.”

Two people familiar with Bailey’s situation confirmed that McCrobie is a friend. They asked not to be identified because Bailey’s family has tried to keep his illness private.

McCrobie did not respond to messages and White House spokespeople declined to comment. Efforts to reach Bailey and multiple members of his family by phone, e-mail and social media have been unsuccessful.

After this story was published, McCrobie updated the GoFundMe page to advise Bailey’s friends to ignore messages from journalists. “Per Crede’s wishes, please let the media tell their story without your input,” she wrote.

Bailey’s office handles credentialing for access to the White House complex and works closely with the U.S. Secret Service on security measures. Bailey was known on the compound as a strong Trump supporter.

The president has repeatedly minimized the risk from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, both before and after he was hospitalized with the disease Oct. 2-5.

Doctors are still learning about the extent to which the coronavirus can damage the body, but loss of blood flow is one possible consequence. The virus is known to attack the vascular system and can cause deadly blood clots.

When she created the GoFundMe account, McCrobie wrote that “Crede will NOT be happy I’ve done this as he is a proud man who is the first to help everyone else but would never ask for help himself.”

She updated the post Dec. 7 with more details about his condition. He “is blown away by your generosity,” she said to donors.

“His house will need to be renovated to accommodate his disability; ramps to get in/out of the house, the bathroom shower will have to be modified, handrails will have to be installed, etc. etc.,” she wrote.

He’ll also need a new vehicle that can accommodate a wheelchair and that can be modified so the gas pedal can be operated with Bailey’s left leg, she wrote. “I could go on and on but you get the picture – there are a lot of adjustments ahead!”